Friday, May 11, 2012

Religious movies

Somehow The Ten Commandments came up after we saw The Avengers last weekend. It was the special effects champion of its time. I was a bit older than the 'younger boys' when it came out so it was always extraordinarily cheesy to me, but, at least for a few years, it was spectacular for them. By chance I have seen three decent religious movies recently, a genre I would not normally recommend.

The first one you all know: The Tree of Life. Critics loved it as did many others. James loved it and we corresponded briefly about it. The small parts I liked; the grand parts not so much. But enough has been written about it that I needn't add to it. It is worth watching.

The next film I liked better: Higher Ground. It stars and is directed by Vera Farmiga. It is not the type of movie I would normally like, a woman's spiritual struggle with her faith. Plus, you will not find the pace of the Avengers. However, I found it extraordinary.

The last film I liked best of all: Adam's Apples. It did not receive great critical reviews. It is a Danish film which is classified as a comedy, but defies category. It is clear from some critics that everyone will not like this movie, but I found that every time I questioned the movie, it would squirm away in a new direction.

Oddly, often the key to a good religious movie is that it doesn't preach. You needn't worry about any of these three.

1 comment:

Ted said...

This is not a religious movie (not religious nor a movie), but to add to the collective must-read book list, I highly recommend James Gleick's new book The Information. Gleick provides an excellent history of information and human communication from drums in Africa to Wikipedia. I can't recommend this book enough.